The role of probability and significance in psychological research is pivotal for understanding the impact of independent variables on dependent outcomes. Statistical significance tests, with an alpha level conventionally set at 0.05, help determine the likelihood of results occurring by chance. These tests are essential for hypothesis testing, where a p-value below 0.05 indicates a statistically significant effect, guiding researchers in their conclusions about the data.
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Psychological research aims to discern the effects of independent variables on dependent outcomes
Statistical Significance Tests
Researchers employ statistical significance tests to estimate the probability of their findings occurring by chance
Alpha Level
The alpha level (α) is conventionally set at 0.05 in psychological studies to determine the probability of results being due to chance
Significance tests are crucial for deciding whether to accept or reject research hypotheses based on statistical evidence gathered
Psychological experiments involve the manipulation of an independent variable to determine its impact on a dependent variable
The presence of extraneous variables introduces uncertainty in research
Researchers adopt an alpha level of 0.05 to mitigate uncertainty and indicate a 95% confidence interval that results are not due to random variation
Significance in psychological research is quantified by the p-value, which ranges from 0 to 1
A p-value near 0 suggests a low probability that the results are attributable to chance, providing evidence against the null hypothesis
Commonly used significance thresholds in psychology are 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, corresponding to 5%, 1%, and 0.1% probabilities of results occurring by chance
Two types of errors, Type 1 (false positives) and Type 2 (false negatives), can occur in significance testing
The standard alpha level of 0.05 indicates a 5% risk of committing a Type 1 error
The formulation of hypotheses directly affects the significance level and interpretation of results in significance testing
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In psychological studies, the alpha level (α), representing the chance occurrence probability, is typically set at ______.
0.05
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Independent vs. Dependent Variables
Independent variable is manipulated to observe effect on dependent variable in experiments.
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Extraneous Variables
Variables other than independent variable that may affect the outcome of an experiment; researchers seek to control.
